Phillip Island Test Wrap: The replacement RPE head had always felt down on power so this would be the first time back on the dyno since it was fitted. The result was a bigger power drop than I expected , nearly 20hp. Whilst RPE may be able to manage 114hp as they claim, it is not reliable hp in my experience and I would caution anybody about taking these claims at face value. In any event after a day spent with Roly dialling in the 33mm CR carbs on the dyno (105hp with good fairly flat power from 4-8K) we scooted down to our apartment in Ventnor where I rebuilt the bike ready for the next day's track session. After talking to Trevor Manley I dropped the forks down to a protrusion of 22mm from the top clamp and recharged the batteries.
On the track the motor was strong, crisp and smooth with the CR carbs altho' still 10hp down on the first (over ported) head. No matter. All now good useable and hopefully, reliable power. Trevor did 2 full sessions (about 15 laps) and judged the handling with the new geometry to be nearly as good as Roly's bikes. He reckoned it is good for a flat 1'50 at any rate. A pic of him coming out of Siberia:
Trevor's best time around Phillip Island on the Beast is a 1'47 altho' Michael Dibbs managed a 1'46 so my bike is now not that far off probably the fastest CBX racer in the world, despite the relatively low state of engine tune. Trev diagnosed my persistent speed wobble as caused by the very wide clip on bars I run, amplifying any bumps or movement of the rider. He suggested narrower bars and some set up changes. Sure enuf' when I went out I noticed an immediate improvement all round and was able to take the hay shed up into the blind left hand Lukey heights in top gear without the dreaded wallowing by concentrating on relaxing my grip on the bars. And I only lightly scuffed the crank end once or twice in Siberia, meaning ground clearance is improved. So the verdict on the head de-rake to 24 degrees is, it worked. Light, precise, quick, stable handling. In other words the good prolink handling on the road has now been successfully translated to the special demands of the racetrack on slicks.
We were red lining in top well b4 the Melbourne sign with 18/37 gearing for the 17" wheels and there was no hint of a weave or any instability going into the very fast and a bit bumpy Turn 1 and absolutely no need for a steering damper. Roly's opinion was we could even have gone up a tooth on the countershaft sprocket.
All the heavy plough-on under-steering from Mac Park was gone. It was accelerating smoothly out of the corners and was fun to ride and I began to enjoy the circuit until I scared myself silly coming out of turn 12 too hot and nearly ran off onto the grass. The exit of T12 is very fast and critical to a good time down the straight and I noticed some of the modern superbikes were not braking until the 50m braking marker for T1. The top MotoGP riders take it flat out at about 315kph! Achieving the best times at Phillip Island is really all about Turns 12 and 1 and how brave you are. So all went to plan and was good up until the time we started packing up.
But when I went to start the bike to put it back in the trailer my old bug bear returned and both batteries were absolutely flat (following is a pic of the dual lithium battery switch) so a bad mystery electrical short remains in the 35 year old stock Honda harness despite all my efforts and I will have to make an entirely new racing loom b4 I can take it out again. So I had to push it into the trailer and I hate doing this. It weighs around 236kgs with 10 litres of fuel (54/46% front to rear)
But that was just the beginning of my troubles that quickly piled up. Unfortunately, during lunch I had lost a filling in a sandwich and by this time the jagged edge of the tooth had badly lacerated my tongue. With that and the disappointment over the failure to eradicate the electrical gremlin I was distracted and failed to notice I had disconnected the trailer from my vehicle. You can imagine what happened next and I now have a big dent in my fuel tank. But thankfully, no damage to the car. I also have a damaged fork tube so any hopes I had of being ready for the national championship immediately evaporated. There was probably more damage than if I'd dropped it on the track really and I am my own worst enemy when I have these brain fades.
So a fair bit to do b4 our next possible outing at the International Island Classic in January. In spite of the set backs the bike is definitely improving with steady development but the rider is another matter altogether.
...here we call that winter 
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